New Farmer in the Valley
by MidnightKitti22
Summary: Celia never planned to fall in love. One day, though, she met the new farmer, and her opinion slowly began shifting. Two-shot, Celia/Jack. Set in Harvest Moon DS. Might add on later.
1. Chapter 1: seeds

**Hiya~! Enjoy some semi-cute-ish CeliaxJack from Harvest Moon DS! Sorry if it's bad, this is my first time trying a one-shot like this. Please review and tell me what you think!**

**-Mitti**

•ºº•

She wasn't expecting to fall in love.

As pleasurable as the idea sounded, Celia had no intention of becoming a protagonist in a romance novel, similar to the ones her friend Lumina read and fawned over on a daily basis. Often another friend of hers, named Muffy, had talked about the appeal of finding a handsome date, and since it was Celia's very nature to be polite she always agreed with a faux understanding what it was like to admire a guy.

Celia had unconsciously refused to fall in love.

However, her mind reconsidered when someone else moved into the Valley.

The brunette met him a few weeks after he arrived. She'd heard rumors from their customers and from the people who visited the Goddess Pond when she did; that his name was Jack, he moved into his papa's old farm, and that he was firmly resolved to save that farm that his father had put so much sweat and blood into.

When she met him face-to-face, it wasn't the meeting she – or anyone, really – would've hoped for.

She had busied herself in gathering seeds in their store that Vesta had requested they plant out in the fields. With an occupied mind she wasn't paying attention to the sound of the wooden door opening, and with her arms full of seed bags she hadn't seen the person walk in, either.

Until she literally ran into him, that is.

"Oof!" she had squeaked, falling flat on her bottom as the seeds tumbled and spilled out of her arms around her. "Oh, dear!" she then exclaimed with a sigh, before realizing that another innocent victim of the collision was also on the ground, wincing.

Noticing this, she bolted upright, stammering, "A-ah! Are you alright? I'm so sorry!" while he, looking slightly dazed, brought his gaze to meet her own. It was then that Celia recalled that she hadn't seen him before. This was _very_ peculiar, what with the Valley being such a small place . . . although she hadn't spoken to some people very often, she knew _everyone_ here . . .

"I'm fine," the brown-haired boy finally replied, standing up as well before looking at the mess of seeds and sacks that lay strewn around the floor. "Sorry about your seeds," he apologized sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck.

"O – o-oh!" Celia had just remembered them. Immediately falling back onto her knees and grabbing a seed bag, she fretted, "I'm so clumsy. Oh, I hope the seeds aren't ruined!"

The boy laughed, before reaching down and helping Celia pick up the handfuls of seeds and stuff them into the bag she held. "You seem more concerned about the seeds than yourself," he remarked, his voice not holding any ill-intent whatsoever. He seemed very amicable with his words, in fact.

"Vesta and Marlin have worked hard to get all these seeds," she replied, giving a breathless smile as she scooped up more handfuls. "And they were generous enough to let me have this job as their farmhand."

He nodded understandingly, before taking another bag and beginning to dip the seeds in there. "By the way, my name's Jack," he introduced. "I'm the new farmer."

"A-ah!" Celia stuttered again, an embarrassed blush staining her cheeks, "Where are my _manners_?" she chastised herself. "My name's Celia."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Celia," Jack had replied, shooting her a warm smile that reached his compassionate brown eyes. Despite herself and her un-romantic policies, Celia couldn't help but give a meek, tiny smile in response.

"The pleasure is all mine, Jack."

•ºº•


	2. Chapter 2: flowers

_For anyone that's curious and/or confused about this next chapter being added, I just want to say that this is only an add-on. I'll continue marking this story as 'complete' unless I begin doing chapters that become more involved with one another._

_I was going to have this be strictly set in the DS game, but after some thought I decided to include some stuff from A Wonderful Life. Since I don't own the game, though, it'll probably only be the events between Celia and Jack._

_Enjoy and please review!_

_-Mitti_

•ºº•

She wasn't expecting to become his close friend.

While Celia often enjoyed other people's company she wasn't anyone's _resolute_ friend. Sure, she chatted freely with Muffy and Lumina and other residents around the Valley, but her work mostly restrained her from having any truly close companions, save for Vesta and Marlin. And, while Celia wasn't _antisocial_, she was shy, so this never bothered her.

Jack was the opposite of her in this respect.

It was only mid-summer, and Jack had already become rather popular among the Valley. Not that anyone _wasn't_, per se, since their cozy little valley wasn't referred to as 'home' for many, but he had spoken to everyone several times, and had gotten along on good terms with them.

Naturally it would only be the same with him and the other farmers around Forget-Me-Not Valley.

Celia was, once again, in Vesta's shop, sorting out the fresh crops from the bad crops they had harvested earlier. Vesta herself was not present; the hearty woman was still off tending to the fields along with Marlin. Few customers, if any, came earlier than when Vesta started running the shop, so the brunette girl worked at a leisurely pace, knowing she had a good twenty minutes or so until their shop really kicked itself into gear and customers came in.

But, as with Jack usually, he was apt to show up when people didn't expect him to – such as when he and Celia had their collision a season prior.

"Hello?" he called, opening the door a bit wider and peering in with big brown eyes. "Anyone here?"

Celia squeaked audibly, giving the indication that someone _was,_ and that gave Jack enough courage to step inside. "Oh – Celia!" he exclaimed with delighted surprise. "How are you? Are you running the shop today?"

Celia quickly moved from her usual place where she sorted vegetables to the wood counter where customers ordered. Jack mirrored this action on the other side. "I-I'm fine, thank you for asking," she responded politely and a bit meekly. "And no, I'm just handling the shop until Vesta comes and takes over. Technically the shop opens at 4:30," she added.

"Oh," Jack said, before laughing sheepishly and rubbing the back of his neck – something that seemed to be a habit of his. "Then I'm probably a bit early. Should I . . . come back later?" he asked.

"No, no, it's fine," Celia said sweetly. "Do you want to buy something? I can get it for you if you'd like."

"Thanks," the brunet boy responded, flashing a thankful grin at her. "I'm just curious to see how much apple tree seeds cost."

Celia paled, and bit her lip. Leave it to Jack to ask about the one product she could never quite remember. "Um . . ." she stammered uneasily, thinking hard. "I . . . I think it's . . . 1600 G? No, that doesn't sound quite right . . ."

Noticing her nervousness, Jack once again offered, "I can come back later if you want."

Embarrassment flooded over Celia as she cast her eyes down. "I-I'm sorry; I really should know . . ." she murmured, feeling incredibly ashamed. She had been working on Vesta's farm for years now, and she couldn't even remember what some _tree seeds_ costed?

She then felt a reassuring hand on her shoulder, jolting her out of her forlorn self-chastisement. "Hey," Jack said, smiling warmly at her, "Don't worry about it. You're not s'posed to know _everything_; it's not really your job to remember, right? It's more my fault; I shouldn't have come so early," he said apologetically.

Celia immediately shook her head. "Don't blame yourself," she chided quickly, though not in an unfriendly manner. She then gave a small giggle. "I suppose it's both of our faults," she decided.

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Jack contemplated, making her amusement increase. He could be so childishly cute sometimes, without even noticing it. "So we're both guilty!" he said in a much brighter tone, grin widening.

Now Celia let out a glittery laugh. "Yes," she said in-between her fits, "We are. M-may I ask why that is so amusing?" _she _was amused because of his antics.

Jack gave a helpless smile. "It just seems different than what I'm used to," he responded vaguely, dropping his hand from her shoulder. "Actually . . . a lot of things are different in Forget-Me-Not Valley."

Celia suddenly had the suspicion that Jack was talking about more than his simple reaction; that he was admitting that he felt . . . like he didn't _belong_ in the Valley, and her sad theory was true when he cast his own eyes to the floor. "Y-you know," she began softly. "J-just because a place has different ways doesn't mean someone can't adapt to them!"

Jack gave her an almost _hopeful_ glance. "You really think so?"

"Of course!" the farm girl beamed. "You might think that it's hard to fit into our ways of festivals and quiet countryside b-but it's real easy once everyone knows you! Trust me," she added assuringly, "I know exactly what you're going through. I felt like that myself when I first arrived!"

Jack blinked curiously. "When did you move to the Valley?" he asked.

"About . . ." Celia thought for a moment. "Maybe . . . 3 or 4 years?" she said, sounding unsure. "Y-yes, that sounds right. I've been in the Valley for a while, but I still remember how strange it felt to be surrounded by people that were all really close." she gave Jack a sympathetic smile. "It feels like you're the 'odd-one-out', right?"

The new farmer nodded, looking relieved. "Yeah," he agreed. "I still feel like you all have this . . . this 'secret code' or something that I don't understand," he added, doing air quotations on the words 'secret code'. This elicited a chuckle from Celia.

"Well . . . if you mean that we all know what's going on around the Valley," she began slowly, making sure what she said made sense. "Then that's not anything to feel awkward about. It's just that most people here have a routine they follow. Such as on our farm, when Vesta comes in at 4:30 and everyone that likes to purchase from us knows it."

Jack nodded, obviously trying to hide his uneasiness and making Celia smile. "Thanks," he said gratefully, before hesitantly adding, "So . . . so do you have a 'routine'?"

The brunette nodded. "I mostly just work out in the fields," she admitted bashfully. "But on my days off I like to go visit at the Goddess Pond."

"That's a pretty place," Jack commented, changing the subject. "I like to go there, too. Though I suppose almost everyone does."

"People enjoy relaxing there," Celia said absentmindedly. "But you are right; it's a naturally attractive-looking area. I especially like the flowers that grow there. They always seem much prettier than the other flowers around the Valley – a-ah! N-not to mean that the other flowers around _aren't_ pretty, though!" she added hastily, her cheeks flushing as she waved her hands frantically. "I-I love all the flowers around, a-and I don't m-mean any disrespect to you i-if you like the flowers from s-somewhere else better!"

Jack tilted his head up and laughed. "Don't worry," he said, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "My favorite flowers are the ones at the spring too. You're not offending me."

Celia's cheeks burned even more, though she managed a small, helpless smile. "S-sorry," she apologized. "I just don't like to disregard other people's opinions, and sometimes I do without realizing it until too late . . . a-and then I make a fool of my words," she admitted miserably.

Jack's mouth turned up in a quirky grin. "Well, you shouldn't _hide _your opinion," he pointed out. "People like to know what you think. That's how people start learning about you."

After a moment of thoughtful silence on Celia's part, Jack spoke up again. "You know what I just remembered?" he asked, more to himself than her as he slung his rucksack off his back and onto the counter that separated them. "I went to the Goddess Pond yesterday and picked some flowers . . ." he trailed off as he rummaged through his pack, Celia respectfully making sure her eyes stayed averted from his personal belongings.

"Here they are!" he finally exclaimed, pulling two Moondrop Flowers out of his rucksack. Celia had envisioned them to have been nearly squashed in there, but they were surprisingly fresh-looking and crisp. Their yellow petals were still perfectly moist, while the green stems were colored as emeralds. Vaguely, she found herself thinking once again how the flowers near the Goddess Pond always looked more . . . _magical._

When Celia glanced back up at Jack's face, she was surprised to see him looking bashfully up at her. Before she could ask why, he tentatively held the flower out to her.

"Would you like them?" he asked, studying her with wide brown eyes.

Celia felt herself smile warmly at his sweetness. "Well . . . thank you!" she managed to say with a perfectly steady voice, taking the flowers in her hands. "They're beautiful!"

From then on, both Celia and Jack subconsciously agreed to become friends.

But neither knew just how close they would eventually become.

•ºº•

_Jack always brought her flowers from the Goddess Pond._

•ºº•

_Well? How was it? If you have any ideas, please contact me through a review or PM!_

_And sorry if you don't like stammering Celia. I've always envisioned her as a very shy girl who sometimes stumbles over her words when she's nervous._

_-Mitti_


End file.
